Idris Elba and Netflix Go Oscar Hunting in the 'Beasts of No Nation' Trailer

After claiming territory at the Emmys with original series like Orange is the New Black and House of Cards, and venturing into the Oscars with a nod for documentary The Square, Netflix is getting more and more serious about its original movies. This fall, the streaming service will launch Beasts of No Nation, a drama based on the novel by Uzodinma Iweala. The first teaser dropped today, and thanks to a deal to release it theatrically, it looks like it could be Netflix’s first Oscar contender in the realm of fiction film.

Abraham Attah stars, in his first film role, as Agu, a young boy left orphaned by a civil war in a West African nation. Alone in the world, he joins a band of fighters led by the Commandant (Idris Elba), who begins to tutor him in the savage ways of war. The trailer’s intense, the cast is great, and the film is written and directed by Cary Fukunaga, who knocked season one of True Detective out of the park. By the end of the year, we could be hearing some serious Oscar buzz for this film.